Osama bin Laden’s death brings relief to the Muslim community and further inspires people of all faiths to fight hate, but people shouldn’t be so quick to do all-out celebrations or condemn the leader to hell, according to Mustafaa Caroll, the director of the Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic relations.

I chatted with Carroll this morning, the day after President Barack Obama announced U.S. forces had killed the al-Qaida head.

What was your initial reaction to the news Osama bin Laden had died?

I was praying that it would bring closure to the families who had family members killed on 9/11. He has served as a pinnacle of terrorism, and I’m relieved that the treat of his leadership is gone.

Would you say bin Laden was to blame for the current status of Muslims in America?

He has a part in it. I can’t say Osama bin Laden created discrimination and hatred against Muslims, but what he did didn’t help.

We all have the responsibility to fight hate. I put the ownership on all of us to join together against this because it’s been going on in different religious groups in this country…. Terrorism doesn’t discriminate. The bombs didn’t just kill one group of people. They killed all of us.

From a Muslim perspective, what’s the fate of bin Laden, in terms of punishment or salvation? Gov. Mike Huckabee, for example, said “Welcome to hell, bin Laden.”

Bin Laden, just like any other person, is under God’s grace. He might be punished, but there is not some eternal hell. We don’t know what his penance will be. Our Quran says if you kill one innocent soul, you kill all of mankind and if you save one soul, you save all of mankind. There is no sense of a “forever hell” for anybody. We need to remember that God is merciful.

Reports say that he’s been buried at sea. In terms of Islamic burial code, does that raise concerns? Or because he was who he was, does it even matter?

Even though he did disobey God, his body didn’t. We are commanded to be certain way, and it appears to be a violation (of Islamic law). He should be buried like any other Muslim. We should not treat him differently because his judgment is not up to us now. I’m not an Islamic scholar, so I don’t know if there are exceptions, but that’s my gut reaction. We should always follow our own edicts.

There has been some hesitancy from people of faith to celebrate bin Laden’s death because he was killed and killed in a pretty violent way. As a Muslim, what do you think?

I don’t celebrate anybody’s death. I don’t believe that’s a Muslim edict. We are thankful that whatever pain has been relieved, that it brings resolution and closure.

I think it’s premature to even celebrate… we have to look at the situation that helped created and deify (bin Laden). Osama bin Laden represents a tragedy to this world. I am sick of people fighting and dying and claiming to be right. We need to listen to our better angels and go to our holy books – the Torah, the Quran, the Bible—what do they say is right?